This Week in Kickstarter

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We're still gaming! Double Fine continues to set new records, and, at this point, we're just happy to watch the ride. Tim Schafer sat down with This Week in Tech and chatted about the project and all things point-and-click graphic adventure. Not only is G4 hanging with the biggest Kickstarter project to date, they also sat down with a triumvirate of projects, including Chicken Caesar, Wonder Threads, and Dash.

Tim Schafer's multi-million dollar project isn't the only big news around here, as Kickstarter is heading to SXSW in a big way, with 31 films slated to play in Austin during the illustrious SXSW Film Fest. Our own Elizabeth Holm broke it down earlier this week and if you are in ATX during the festival, I highly recommend you checking out every single one of these cinematic visions. I hear they go well with tacos and beer.

While Double Fine became the first project to hit $2,000,000, we're happy to welcome Order of the Stick into the million dollar club. Rather than handing out gold Rolex's to our million dollar projects, we make cool .gif's out of their already cool graphs! Basically, the more million dollar projects, the more .gifs! Let's make it happen, people!

Fact: there are lots of good videos on Kickstarter. Fact: It's hard to see all of them. Game changer: Kickstumbler, a cool hack created by our friends at the Hype Machine, that allows you to browse Kickstarter in a whole new way. Click thru and stumble upon random projects, carefully select categories or projects based on cities, or enjoy the site in Video Mode, which is basically a dream come true for people who like to watch Kickstarter movies all day (i.e., Myself). Try it here. (Do this now.)

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If you've been to New York City recently, you've probably gone for a stroll on the High Line, the elevated park on the west side. Well, the High Line is pretty cool, but imagine for a second that it was an underground park available to all. Ok, now that I've seeded that in your mind, take a gander at the LowLine, a new project to convert an old underground trolley depot into a public park for all to enjoy. Let me just say how amazing it would be to go underground and not be in a subway car. Just putting that out there, people. Let's make this happen.

And last but not least, could not leave this post without mentioning this Talking Points Memo headline, which states, "Kickstarter Expects To Provide More Funding To The Arts Than NEA." All this means is that a lot of cool creative works will come out into the world that maybe wouldn't have in the past, and that feels pretty darn good.

Re: NEA - that's amazing. My only hope would be perhaps in the future, allowing people to "invest" in a project, as opposed to just "back it". I'm sure there are a lot of indie film angel investors who would love to invest in some projects, but can't because you can't offer any financial incentive as part of a "reward". Just a thought.

Superbacker

@Jack There is a push for congress to remove some of the restrictions to allow crowdfunding investment. (You currently have to be a fairly wealthy accredited investor to actually invest without violating securities law)

The bill passed the House and is now waiting for a Senate bill, the current one is S. 1970 (CROWDFUND Act). Unfortunately this would only affect US funding, other countries have their own securities laws that are somewhat similar, but it is a start.

David you're right. Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act (H.R. 2930) introduced by Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC). In November 2011, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R 2930 in a vote 407-17. It reduces restrictions on small-scale crowdfunding of for-profit businesses currently present in state and securities law. The Democratizing Access to Capital Act (S.1791) and Capital Raising Online While Deterring Fraud and Unethical Non-Disclosure of 2011, or CROWDFUND (S. 1790) bills are awaiting action in the U.S. Senate. Contact McHenry or your State Rep.